IIT-Bombay & Delhi
May Go Kanpur Way
New Delhi/Mumbai: The HRD ministry’s decision to hold an all-inclusive common engineering test appears to have split the Indian Institutes of Techno logy vertically. Indications are that IIT Delhi and Bombay could back IIT Kanpur in holding their own entrance test while Madras, Roorkee, Kharagpur and Guwahati will stand by the Centre’s decision.
If the current wave of resentment among faculty, which gathered momentum on Saturday, a day after IITK’s decision, is backed by their respective senates, it would add to the raft of entrance tests students take after their boards. IITK’s senate called the HRD ministry’s decision on admissions “academically and methodically unsound’’. Faculty members in Delhi and Bombay also expressed resentment that the concerns raised by them, including the 2014 roll-out, were not addressed by the HRD ministry.
All India IIT Faculty Federation secretary Prof A K Mittal said, “The IIT Kanpur’s decision should not be seen in isolation. We are talking to all IITs andthere is resentment among them on the fact that the IITs will not conduct their own exam and that the introduction has been scheduled for 2013 despite our reservations on the preparedness.’’
But IIT Guwahati director Gautam Barua criticised IITK senate’s decision. “I am sad that they have to take this extreme step for such a small matter. Right now, we are not talking about one common entrance test. We are basically talking about... having a common exam for NITs, IITs and IIITs. Whether this leads to a common exam for everybody, only time will tell,” he said. His IIT Kharagpur counterpart Damodar Acharya said the institution did not have any objection to the Centre’s move.
UNCOMMON MESS
On May 28, HRD minister Kapil Sibal announces common entrance test for all IITs, NITs & IIITs, which will also factor in Class XII board results
Says the proposal was approved without dissent at IIT council meeting, with the backing of senates of four of the seven IITs
On June 8, IIT Kanpur senate announces it will hold its own entrance exam in 2013; IIT Delhi & Bombay likely to follow suit
IIT Madras, Roorkee, Kharagpur & Guwahati to go with common entrance‘Uncertainty on JEE pattern to affect IIT aspirants next year’
New Delhi/Mumbai: Confusion over the HRD ministry’s plan for an all-inclusive common engineering test is likely to deepen ahead of IIT senate meetings tentatively scheduled for the third week of June for Delhi and July for Bombay. IIT Roorkee director Pradipta Banerji said he and others were concerned about the impact of the ongoing confusion on aspiring candidates. “This uncertainty is extremely unfair to the students who will be sitting for the exam in 2013.”
A senior faculty member said it might be too late for the students aiming for engineering entrance next year to re-orient themselves. “If this new format is a disaster it will be because of this confusion and discussion that is putting undue stress on students,” he said.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on May 28 had announced that from 2013, aspiring candidates for IITs and other central institutes like NITs and IIITs will take a single, reformatted common entrance test. He had said class XII board results would also be factored in. Sibal had claimed it was approved without dissent at the IIT Council meeting and had the backing of the senates of four of the seven IITs. “The council consists of the IITs, the IIITs and the NITs. There was not a single dissent. It was unanimously adopted. Therefore, I went forward,” he had said.
The IIT-Bombay’s senate, which met before the HRD ministry’s announcement last Monday, had put forth three main recommendations: the new exam must not be rolled out in 2013, that Class XII must not be accounted for and that the JEE-advanced exam must be subjective in nature. “However there is a clear divide between the IIT-B senate and the ministry. We have not yet decided which way the institute will go, but clearly none of our recommendations have been considered,” said a faculty federation member. Vacations are on and with most teachers travelling; the IIT-B senate has decided to convene in early July and take a final call on whether to bow to the ministry’s proposal or to go their own “independent autonomous way”, said a faculty member.
Sources in IIT Kharagpur senate said that so far there had been no opposition to HRD’s decision, but the senate may reconsider its decision following the growing opinion against the common test.
IIT Delhi director R K Shevgaonkar added there would be no difficulty inimplementing the new format. Sources said that while not all IIT directors may have agreed with the decision wholeheartedly, now that a final decision has been made, efforts should be made to implement it. There was mixed reaction from the coaching institutes. Though FIITJEE director R L Trikha believes that these developments won't affect his students adversely, he said that Sibal’s effort for a common exam for engineering colleges had been defeated.
“So far we have not received any queries from the students. This is more because our teaching methodology is pattern proof and so whatever pattern be the exam be the students are comfortable. But the real issue is that Sibal's dream of one common exam has been defeated. He has managed just to do away with one exam by merging AIEEE with that of the IIT JEE. What about the dozens of other entrance exams? One IIT senate has already taken a bold step and other may follow soon,” said Trikha, alumni of IIT, Kanpur.
According to TIME, another coaching centre, there is no confusion and the institute is preparing students as per the HRD directives for the common entrance test.
“Currently the students are not at all concerned with the news that IIT Kanpur is going to conduct its own entrance test. The news is just 24 hour old and we are preparing the students for last so many months. Moreover, we are convinced that how can a senate of IIT override the decisions of HRD ministry?” said vice president, TIME, Ajay Anthony.
New Delhi/Mumbai: The HRD ministry’s decision to hold an all-inclusive common engineering test appears to have split the Indian Institutes of Techno logy vertically. Indications are that IIT Delhi and Bombay could back IIT Kanpur in holding their own entrance test while Madras, Roorkee, Kharagpur and Guwahati will stand by the Centre’s decision.
If the current wave of resentment among faculty, which gathered momentum on Saturday, a day after IITK’s decision, is backed by their respective senates, it would add to the raft of entrance tests students take after their boards. IITK’s senate called the HRD ministry’s decision on admissions “academically and methodically unsound’’. Faculty members in Delhi and Bombay also expressed resentment that the concerns raised by them, including the 2014 roll-out, were not addressed by the HRD ministry.
All India IIT Faculty Federation secretary Prof A K Mittal said, “The IIT Kanpur’s decision should not be seen in isolation. We are talking to all IITs andthere is resentment among them on the fact that the IITs will not conduct their own exam and that the introduction has been scheduled for 2013 despite our reservations on the preparedness.’’
But IIT Guwahati director Gautam Barua criticised IITK senate’s decision. “I am sad that they have to take this extreme step for such a small matter. Right now, we are not talking about one common entrance test. We are basically talking about... having a common exam for NITs, IITs and IIITs. Whether this leads to a common exam for everybody, only time will tell,” he said. His IIT Kharagpur counterpart Damodar Acharya said the institution did not have any objection to the Centre’s move.
UNCOMMON MESS
On May 28, HRD minister Kapil Sibal announces common entrance test for all IITs, NITs & IIITs, which will also factor in Class XII board results
Says the proposal was approved without dissent at IIT council meeting, with the backing of senates of four of the seven IITs
On June 8, IIT Kanpur senate announces it will hold its own entrance exam in 2013; IIT Delhi & Bombay likely to follow suit
IIT Madras, Roorkee, Kharagpur & Guwahati to go with common entrance‘Uncertainty on JEE pattern to affect IIT aspirants next year’
New Delhi/Mumbai: Confusion over the HRD ministry’s plan for an all-inclusive common engineering test is likely to deepen ahead of IIT senate meetings tentatively scheduled for the third week of June for Delhi and July for Bombay. IIT Roorkee director Pradipta Banerji said he and others were concerned about the impact of the ongoing confusion on aspiring candidates. “This uncertainty is extremely unfair to the students who will be sitting for the exam in 2013.”
A senior faculty member said it might be too late for the students aiming for engineering entrance next year to re-orient themselves. “If this new format is a disaster it will be because of this confusion and discussion that is putting undue stress on students,” he said.
HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on May 28 had announced that from 2013, aspiring candidates for IITs and other central institutes like NITs and IIITs will take a single, reformatted common entrance test. He had said class XII board results would also be factored in. Sibal had claimed it was approved without dissent at the IIT Council meeting and had the backing of the senates of four of the seven IITs. “The council consists of the IITs, the IIITs and the NITs. There was not a single dissent. It was unanimously adopted. Therefore, I went forward,” he had said.
The IIT-Bombay’s senate, which met before the HRD ministry’s announcement last Monday, had put forth three main recommendations: the new exam must not be rolled out in 2013, that Class XII must not be accounted for and that the JEE-advanced exam must be subjective in nature. “However there is a clear divide between the IIT-B senate and the ministry. We have not yet decided which way the institute will go, but clearly none of our recommendations have been considered,” said a faculty federation member. Vacations are on and with most teachers travelling; the IIT-B senate has decided to convene in early July and take a final call on whether to bow to the ministry’s proposal or to go their own “independent autonomous way”, said a faculty member.
Sources in IIT Kharagpur senate said that so far there had been no opposition to HRD’s decision, but the senate may reconsider its decision following the growing opinion against the common test.
IIT Delhi director R K Shevgaonkar added there would be no difficulty inimplementing the new format. Sources said that while not all IIT directors may have agreed with the decision wholeheartedly, now that a final decision has been made, efforts should be made to implement it. There was mixed reaction from the coaching institutes. Though FIITJEE director R L Trikha believes that these developments won't affect his students adversely, he said that Sibal’s effort for a common exam for engineering colleges had been defeated.
“So far we have not received any queries from the students. This is more because our teaching methodology is pattern proof and so whatever pattern be the exam be the students are comfortable. But the real issue is that Sibal's dream of one common exam has been defeated. He has managed just to do away with one exam by merging AIEEE with that of the IIT JEE. What about the dozens of other entrance exams? One IIT senate has already taken a bold step and other may follow soon,” said Trikha, alumni of IIT, Kanpur.
According to TIME, another coaching centre, there is no confusion and the institute is preparing students as per the HRD directives for the common entrance test.
“Currently the students are not at all concerned with the news that IIT Kanpur is going to conduct its own entrance test. The news is just 24 hour old and we are preparing the students for last so many months. Moreover, we are convinced that how can a senate of IIT override the decisions of HRD ministry?” said vice president, TIME, Ajay Anthony.
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